Formula Drift Tech Day / Car Meet

The coolest cars at the show

Formula Drift's tech event was at the Irvine office of European Car's Source Interlink Media corporate overlord last weekend. By the time I got there the lot had filled up with several hundred cars, everything from stock machines to modded-out monsters. The event was presented by: Super Street, Modified, Import Tuner, European Car, and Honda Tuning. There were also four food trucks (Sexy Burger, DogZillaDos, Chinos, Frozen Ice) providing hungry enthusiasts with enough fuel to enjoy the hundreds of cars. To help you get a flavor for the event, I waded through the lot and picked out several that caught my eye, talking with several of the proud owners of the slick European cars below.

Albert Roxas brought his 2009 Audi R8 to the show, all decked out in an "Iron Man" theme (the R8 had a starring role in the first "Iron Man" film). The V-8 powered model is lowered on 20-inch Modurlare wheels, and has an ECU remap, intakes, and exhaust by Stasis (an Audi aftermarket tuning expert). He also added a set of H&R springs, and to complete the look the R8's signature side blades are carbon-fiber. Purchased used, Roxas decided he wanted more than the stock R8 offered and is now finished with all the mods he wanted to add.

One of two Lotus cars I saw at the show (including mine) was this 2005 Lotus Elise owned by Chris Schrieder. This is no ordinary Elise, as the list of mods is pretty extensive, including: a Bamani supercharger (water cooled) bringing it to 270 hp, some carbon fiber pieces, BBS rims, tubular GT3 style exhaust, and a Gut rear spoiler. Schrieder hopes to change the front clam to possibly an Exige or even an add-on that has a GT4 look. And if 270 hp wasn't enough for such a light weight car, Schrieder wants to add more down the line.

This brightly colored BMW is a 2013 328 owned by Anthony Shores. The bright blue color is a BMW blue that is actually wrapped around the original white color. Shores says the rims are from Avant Garde and are wrapped in Hankook tires, other than that it's pretty much stock. In the future he hopes to install an intake to help boost performance and possibly new front black grille inserts.

Here are a few other cars that caught my eye while wandering around the lot that didn't have owners available to talk with:

There doesn't seem to be anything done to the outside of this Aston Martin Vantage, but who knows what's going on under the hood...

One of the only Mini Coopers I saw at the show, this car has plenty of interesting add-ons, including a dealer installed JCW package and rally accessories.

This 996 Porsche Turbo is another one of those less-is-more cars I saw at the show. Its looks are understated compared to others, but it caught my attention.